OFFENSE DOESN’T COME TO RESCUE
Rivers says Clippers’ casual, defense-light approach to game set them up for failure.
ORLANDO 98 CLIPPERS 90
ORLANDO, Fla. — He talked about how the “basketball gods punished” his team, about how the Clippers were “very casual in our approach” to the game against the Orlando Magic and about how their steadfast belief that offense will cure all is “fool’s gold.”
That about covered it all for Coach Doc Rivers as he lamented the Clippers’ 98-90 loss to a young Magic team Wednesday night at Amway Center.
The Clippers fell behind by 19 points in the third quarter, but rallied to take a five-point lead in the fourth by finally playing some defense.
Then those basketball gods Rivers spoke of must have awoken, slowing the Clippers down in the game’s
ORLANDO, Fla. — Many pundits expect the Lakers to miss the playoffs this season, and yet they defeated the Clippers on opening night. Many of the naysayers expect Orlando to be back in the lottery again next summer, and yet the Magic defeated the Clippers on Wednesday night.
Sure, it’s a small sample size after just five games, but it really does look as if the Clippers are playing to the level of their competition.
And that’s not a good sign for a team that has designs on winning an NBA championship this season.
“We could be, yeah,” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said. “Yeah, that could happen. And we’ll grow out of that. That’s not a concern, though. We’ve proven that so far, but I think we’ll grow. If that is something, I think we’ll be fine with that.”
The Clippers beat the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets, two of the better NBA teams. The Clippers also played hard in beating the Sacramento Kings.
But losing to the Lakers and the Magic, which had the worst record in the NBA last season at 20-62, makes it seem as if the Clippers don’t play hard all the time.
“You’d like to think not, but it kind of shows that,” the Clippers’ Blake Griffin said. “You can’t take anybody lightly. You can’t come out and think we’re going to take care of a team just by showing up. That’s not how it works. We’ve got to do a better job getting up for the games we’re not supposed to socalled get up for.”
The Clippers are 3-2 and face two-time NBA champion Miami on Thursday night.
The Clippers expect to give a better effort.
“It’s Game 5,” Chris Paul said. “Luckily we’ve got like 77 left to get better at it. But we’re not going to win games unless our defense gets better. We can’t rely on 100-something points every night. Our defense has to kick in at some point. Or, either we’re going to lose or we’re going to be in dogfights every night.” Barnes out with injury
Clippers forward Matt Barnes didn’t play against the Magic because of a bruised right thigh and probably won’t play against the Heat.
“If something amazing happens tonight, maybe,” he said. “But probably not.”